Polythiophenes, oligothiophenes and their functional derivatives have attracted much interest and have been among the most frequently used π-conjugated materials as active components in organic electronic devices and molecular electronics, including in devices such as OLEDs, OFETs, OPVs and chemo/biosensors. Among thiophene-based polymeric materials, oligothiophene moieties are generally placed in the main-chain architecture. For example, poly(3-alkylthiophene) (P3ATs) and their derivatives are one series of the most developed main-chain thiophene-based polymeric materials, which show very promising optoelectronic properties and great potential in OFET and OPV applications. Compared with the main-chain thiophene-based polymers, side-chain oligothiophene/its derivatives-containing polymers have been much less explored. Though synthesis for methacrylate with terthiophene-containing side-chain was reported previously, most side-chain π-conjugated aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer-containing vinyl monomers haven't been synthesized, and especially, polymers based on such aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer-containing monomers, including methacrylate with terthiophene-containing side chain, haven't been investigated yet by using controlled/living radical polymerization methods, for example, reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Moreover, there are few reports on the potentials of such side-chain aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer-containing polymers in organic optoelectronic devices and molecular electronics, in particular, their applications in capacitors haven't been studied yet. Compared with main-chain P3AT polymers, it is much easier to tune the polymer structures of side-chain polymers by changing the monomer structures.
As such, a need exists for methods of preparing, via controlled methods, a side chain side-chain aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer that has a polymerizable group for further polymerization.